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Other Auto Racing (Indy, IRL, etc.) - Pro Sports Wrap

Scott Kalitta Killed in Crash During NHRA Qualifying

June 22nd 2008 01:20
Scott Kalitta Killed in Crash During NHRA Qualifying


Scott Kalitta image
Scott Kalitta, NHRA driver dead at 46.

46 year old NHRA driver Scott Kalitta was killed in an accident during qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Englishtown - Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Old Bridge, New Jersey.


ESPN showed video of the crash which was rather disturbing. The race started, and Kalitta’s car took a big early lead. Then halfway down the track there was an explosion, an explosion so strong that is blew off most of the body of the car in tiny pieces. Eyewitnesses say that after the explosion it seemed like Kalitta was knocked unconscious as they saw no movement, and he did not attempt to slow his car. The car, now a fast-moving fireball continued down the track, over a dirt strip, through a small fence, and finally crashing into the concrete retaining wall at the very end of the track. Some estimates put the car at about 200mph, others closer to 300mph. For me the 200mph source seemed a bit more reliable. Either way, with that kind of impact at that kind of speed you have to expect the worst. People who have been around the sport for a long time stated that the chances of someone not being killed by a crash like Kalitta's were slim to none. Personally, I would have to agree, he was sitting in a fireball and hit a concrete wall at 200 mph, how can someone walk away from that? He was transported to the Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, and it is reported he died a short time after arriving there.


Scott Kalitta Car image
Scott Kalitta's red & yellow DHL Toyota Solara
Scott Kalitta was a second-generation NHRA driver, his dad Connie Kalitta nicknamed, “The Bounty Hunter”, was a longtime driver and team owner. His cousin Doug is also a competitive driver. Scott’s 26 year career actually started at this same Old Bridge track back in 1982. He was the Top Fuel season champion in 1994 and 95, and had 18 career wins, 17 of which were in a Top Fuel car, plus one in a Funny Car.

Scott was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan, but was currently living in Palmetto, Florida. He is survived by his wife Kathy, and sons Corey and Colin.

Our prayers go out to his family and friends.

ESPN has now added video clips on their web site.

Warning: The first clip includes the accident from start to finish. It is hard to watch knowing what the outcome was.


All videos courtesy of ESPN.




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The IndyCar ABC Supply Co. inc. AJ Foyt 225 (6-1-08)

June 1st 2008 07:51
Danica Patrick image
Danica Patrick is focused on winning in Milwaukee.


Now that the spectacle that is the Indy 500 is over most people will forget about the IndyCar Series. They do race more than once a year in case you didn’t know. Helio Castroneves has to keep himself busy somehow, and the Dancing With The Stars – All-Star season isn’t in the making quite yet. So, instead he will be driving his <car sponsor team here> in races at places you might be familiar with. Places like, Texas Motor Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland Speedway, and Kentucky Speedway now owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. who own many tracks.

This week the drivers roll into The Milwaukee Mile for the ABC Supply Co. inc. AJ Foyt 225. As its name states this track is a one mile long oval with 2.5 degree banking in the straightaways, and 9.25 degree banking in the turns. The mile is actually the oldest continually operating motor speedway in the world. Racing started here way back in 1903, which pre-dates even the Indy 500 by eight years. Everyone from AJ Foyt to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. have won races at “America’s Legendary Oval”. Besides IndyCar, The Mile hosts events in the Nascar Nationwide Series, and Craftsman Truck Series.

This weekend is all about the IndyCars though, a weekend that wraps up with the AJ Foyt 225 Sunday at 3PM EDT. The race can be seen on ABC.

If you thought last week’s Indy 500 had a lot of cautions and laps under the yellow flag, just wait until Sunday afternoon. Most think that the 26 cars that are starting are too many on this flat track. I have to agree with them, but it will only be a problem in the early stages of the race. Yes, I am saying right from the start there will be caution after caution for all of the crashes that will happen. By the halfway point there might be less than half the field still making circuits around The Mile. This could make the race exciting, as long as the half that stays out of trouble includes some of the names we want to see running.

In a flashback to nearly two decades ago, the front row at the start of this race will be Andretti – Rahal. The younger namesakes whose teams are owned by their dads, Marco and Graham that is, not Michael and Bobby. Graham Rahal had taken the pole halfway through qualifying and stayed there till Andretti, who rolled off 25th to qualify, knocked him to the outside pole by under half a mile per hour average speed.

The rest of the front of the starting grid was filled by Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon in third, a driver that has to have one of the best names in sports, Will Power in fourth, Helio Castroneves who sat on the pole here last year in fifth, and the winner at The Milwaukee Mile for two years running, Tony Kanaan in sixth.

Other starting spots of note, Danica Patrick will be rolling off from the 13th spot on the grid. Directly in front of her will be Ryan Briscoe, the driver of the car that hit her in the pits last week at Indy and knocked her out of the race. I read an article that says she has moved past the incident, but she never did make it to his pits last week. Will she try to accidentally bump him or take him out? We’ll just have to wait and see, but watch close because if she does I am sure she will disguise it as best she can to avoid penalties.

My predictions:
Many caution flags, let’s say 13 yellows, and throw in one red flag.
Laps under caution: more than half of them
Winner: Helio Castroneves edges out Tony Kanaan in the final laps. Danica fades shortly before then to finish in third.

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Starting Grid - ABC Supply AJ Foyt 225
POS DRIVER CAR SPEED
1 Marco Andretti 26 168.079 mph
2 Graham Rahal 6 167.654 mph
3 Scott Dixon 9 167.637 mph
4 Will Power 8 167.265 mph
5 Helio Castroneves 3 166.667 mph
6 Tony Kanaan 11 166.473 mph
7 Dan Wheldon 10 166.195 mph
8 Enrique Bernoldi 36 165.216 mph
9 Oriol Servia 5 165.190 mph
10 E.J. Viso 33 164.843 mph
11 Ryan Briscoe 6 164.106 mph
12 Ryan Hunter-Reay 17 164.066 mph
13 Danica Patrick 7 163.702 mph
14 Hideki Mutoh 27 163.368 mph
15 Bruno Junqueira 18 163.123 mph
16 John Andretti 24 162.449 mph
17 Ed Carpenter 20 162.139 mph
18 A.J. Foyt IV 2 162.049 mph
19 Buddy Rice 15 161.903 mph
20 Darren Manning 14 160.787 mph
21 Townsend Bell 23 160.311 mph
22 Justin Wilson 2 159.927 mph
23 Mario Moraes 19 155.511 mph
24 Jaime Camara 34 154.613 mph
25 Mario Dominguez 96 150.071 mph
26 Vitor Meira 4 N/A
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IndyCar Points Standings (As of 5-27-08)

May 28th 2008 00:42
IndyCar Points Standings (As of 5-27-08)

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Rank Driver Points Behind Wins Poles Top5 Top10
1 Scott Dixon 191 --- 2 3 4 4
2 Helio Castroneves 176 -15 0 0 5 5
3 Dan Wheldon 153 -38 1 0 3 3
4 Tony Kanaan 139 -52 0 1 3 4
5 Marco Andretti 130 -61 0 0 3 3
6 Danica Patrick 122 -69 1 0 1 3
7 Ed Carpenter 120 -71 0 0 2 4
8 Will Power 114 -77 1 0 1 2
9 Hideki Mutoh 113 -78 0 0 0 3
10 Oriol Servia 112 -79 0 0 1 2
11 Ryan Hunter-Reay 105 -86 0 0 0 3
12 Enrique Bernoldi 99 -92 0 0 2 2
13 Graham Rahal 98 -93 1 0 1 1
14 Vitor Meira 98 -93 0 0 1 2
15 Ernesto Viso 93 -98 0 0 1 2
16 A.J. Foyt IV 92 -99 0 0 0 2
17 Darren Manning 92 -99 0 0 0 2
18 Buddy Rice 88 -103 0 0 0 1
19 Ryan Briscoe 84 -107 0 0 0 2
20 Justin Wilson 81 -110 0 1 0 2
21 Bruno Junqueira 69 -122 0 0 0 0
22 Mario Moraes 65 -126 0 0 0 0
23 Jay Howard 62 -129 0 0 0 0
24 Franck Perera 56 -135 0 0 0 1
25 Townsend Bell 52 -139 0 0 0 2
26 Marty Roth 50 -141 0 0 0 0
27 Milka Duno 38 -153 0 0 0 0
28 Mario Dominguez 35 -156 0 0 1 1
29 Tomas Scheckter 24 -167 0 0 0 0
30 Jaime Camara 22 -169 0 0 0 0
31 Roger Yasukawa 16 -175 0 0 0 0
32 Davey Hamilton 16 -175 0 0 0 0
33 John Andretti 14 -177 0 0 0 0
34 Buddy Lazier 13 -178 0 0 0 0
35 Sarah Fisher 10 -181 0 0 0 0
36 Alex Lloyd 10 -181 0 0 0 0
37 Jeff Simmons 10 -181 0 0 0 0
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Dixon Kisses the Bricks at Indy

May 25th 2008 23:48
Scott Dixon image
Scott Dixon drinks the milk and kisses the bricks of Indy.


Ganassi Target driver Scott Dixon became the 19th person to win the Indianapolis 500 from the pole.

The race was filled with 8 cautions along the way and included some unusual crashes while under cautions. The race started off with Ganassi target drivers Dixon and Dan Wheldon exchanging the lead by lap three. Then on lap seven the first caution flag was waved for debris, the #18 car of Bruno Junqueira lost its right-side mirror on the track. This is when the first odd incident happened while under caution, Sarah Fisher, in the #67 car, was trying to warm-up her tires, the problem was she was entering into the turn at the time. This caused her to spin off into the grass. Luckily for her she didn’t hit anything and after a pit stop came out two laps down.

On lap 35 Dixon and Wheldon started lapping cars on the track. Soon after, on lap 36 the next caution flag would wave, this time for Graham Rahal who had hit the outside wall. This would finish Rahal’s day. While coming out of his pit stall A.J. Foyt IV’s car spit fuel out, which instantly caught fire. Foyt the IV was immediately sprayed with the flame retardant and got out of the car to take a breather. He seemed fine and would return to the race.

The next caution (#3) flew on lap 62 when the oldest driver in the race, Marty Roth would also hit the wall. His debris field flew out and damage Helio Castroneves’s front wing. His crew would replace it without incident. Roth’s day was done. The race didn’t stay quiet for long as caution flag #4 would wave on lap81 after Jaime Camara tagged the wall.

On lap 94 someone not in a Ganassi Target car would finally lead the race when Tony Kanaan moved into the front spot. History has shown when Tony Kanaan is in the lead bad luck usually strikes. The 92nd running of the Indy 500 was no exception. Kanaan had slowed a bit, and his Andretti Green Racing teammate Marco Andretti would get below him late going into turn three. This caused Kanaan to have to get too high and up into “the marbles.” This cause him to spin, he somehow managed to keep it off the wall and just when it looked like he could drive away from the incident his car turned sharp to the left, back down the track. Sarah Fisher came along and t-boned Kanaan. Both drivers were treated at the car center and physically ok. Fisher however was emotionally crushed. She is also team owner of her race team, a team that has almost no budget, and had a sponsor back out on them at the last minute as they came into Indy for the race. In Kanaan’s interview he made it clear he was not happy with Marco’s move on the track.

The next incident happened under this caution. The #41 car of Jeff Simmons crashed into the outside wall, bounced down the track and into the inside wall. He was done.

On lap 120 race officials warn Danica Patrick about blocking as she tried to hold off Castroneves. A lap later we had another new leader, Marco Andretti. On lap 133 the 7th caution of the day came out when rookie Justin Wilson smacked the wall.

Going back to green rookie Mario Moreas led them to the restart. He didn’t stay on point for long. Andretti was passing him when Dixon shot from third past both of them to retake the lead with Andretti in second, and Moreas falling deep into the field.

The next yellow flag came out when Alex Lloyd bumped the outside wall then bounced down the track and into the pits where he hit the pit road wall and came to a stop after crashing through the speed indicator pylons. Luckily no one at the start of pit road was over the wall, the first people in danger were track officials abut halfway down the strip. Tomas Scheckter wouldn’t come out of the pits this time. After driving well all day near or in the top 10, his car had a broken driveshaft and went back to the garage.

On this restart Vitor Meira who had been driving toward the front all race made a bold move between two cars and pulled into the lead. With 38 laps to go Castroneves moved up to third place. Then on lap 168 while driving n 19th Milka Duno spins out and crashes. It would bring out the 8th caution and bring her day to an end.

During this caution there was trouble in the pits. Danica Patrick had made her stop and was driving in the outside lane to exit pit road when Ryan Briscoe’s car dropped to the ground and he spun his tires to get out of his pit box he slid out a bit. Patrick’s rear tire crashed into his car breaking her right-rear suspension. For the first time in her four Indy 500s Danica would not finish. Patrick was not at all happy with Briscoe, she got out of her car and started her way down pit road to Briscoe’s pit. She was walking with a purpose. As a PR person was trying to catch her from behind to stop her she realized Danica was moving too fast. So the PR person hopeed the wall and got the head of security at the track who was luckily nearby. He climbed over the wall and talked to Danica as they walked. When he saw an opening he got her to turn and go over the wall instead of continuing on. She was escorted back to her team’s control center to cool down.

Coming out of the pits it was Dixon, Meira, and Castroneves 1-2-3. With 23 laps to go Helio was warned for blocking while trying to stay ahead of Marco Andretti.

With 20 laps to go the top five was Dixon, Meira, Castroneves, and Andretti, followed by rookie Hideki Mutoh. Andretti finally made the pass of Helio for third with 12 to go. At 10 to go the only change in the top five was Mutoh out and Ed Carpenter into fifth, it was like this at five to go also. Meira was .7 seconds behind Dixon on lap 5, he did cut it to .4 on la four, but then missed one of his marks and it dropped to .6 seconds. This is when Dixon came up on lapped traffic. He made it through fairly easy while Meira was hung up a little. Scott Dixon then took the Checkered flag to win the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500. Meira was left with his second 2nd place finish at Indy. Dixon led 115 of the 200 laps and was never truly challenged by anyone for an extended period of time.

Marco Andretti would have to settle for third, followed by Castroneves, Ed Carenter, and the highest finishing rookie Ryan Hunter –Reay in sixth. After leading 30 laps, the second most, Dan Wheldon finished back in twelth place while Danica Patrick officially finished 22nd. Graham Rahal was listed in 33rd place after finishing just 36 laps. Others to lead laps were Ed Carpetner (3), Buddy Rice (8), Bruno Junqueira (2).

Dixon celebrated with his wife Emma, and car owner Chip Ganassi as they both drank the traditional milk, most of Dixon’s ended up over his head instead of in his mouth.

To me the race seemed like follow the leader for most of the day, Dixon being the leader. No one seemed to have enough to challenge him. Helio and Danica never got their cars just right. With challengers like Kanaan, Patrick, and those with familiar names Graham Rahal, and Foyt the IV being crashed out it just wasn’t all that exciting. I thought Meira or Marco Andretti might make it interesting near the end, but it just didn’t happen.


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92nd Indianapolis 500 Results - 2008
POS DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS START LEAD
1 Scott Dixon 9 Honda 200 1 115
2 Vitor Meira 4 Honda 200 8 12
3 Marco Andretti 26 Honda 200 7 15
4 Helio Castroneves 3 Honda 200 4 0
5 Ed Carpenter 20 Honda 200 10 3
6 Ryan Hunter-Reay 17 Honda 200 20 0
7 Hideki Mutoh 27 Honda 200 9 0
8 Buddy Rice 15 Honda 200 17 8
9 Darren Manning 14 Honda 200 14 0
10 Townsend Bell 99 Honda 200 12 0
11 Oriol Servia 5 Honda 200 25 0
12 Dan Wheldon 10 Honda 200 2 30
13 Will Power 8 Honda 200 23 0
14 Davey Hamilton 22 Honda 200 18 0
15 Enrique Bernoldi 36 Honda 200 29 0
16 John Andretti 24 Honda 199 21 0
17 Buddy Lazier 91 Honda 195 32 0
18 Mario Moraes 19 Honda 194 28 3
19 Milka Duno 23 Honda 185 27 0
20 Bruno Junqueira 18 Honda 184 15 2
21 A.J. Foyt IV 2 Honda 180 31 0
22 Danica Patrick 7 Honda 171 5 0
23 Ryan Briscoe 6 Honda 171 3 0
24 Tomas Scheckter 12 Honda 156 11 0
25 Alex Lloyd 16 Honda 151 19 0
26 Ernesto Viso 33 Honda 139 26 0
27 Justin Wilson 2 Honda 132 16 0
28 Jeff Simmons 41 Honda 112 24 0
29 Tony Kanaan